Police swarm Old Campus

Updated 1:19 a.m. Police cruisers swarmed and closed off Old Campus before removing a Yale College freshman late Thursday night. Yale Police Department Lt. Joseph Vitale said that the male freshman was found by a New Haven Police Department cruiser on Chapel and High St. Vitale said the student was “obviously intoxicated” and may have been yelling into a traffic cone.

Vitale said that when the cruiser stopped, the student — whose name he did not know — ran into Old Campus in an attempt to evade the police. When the NHPD officers saw this, they called for backup and pursued, he added.

“When someone ran away from the police for nothing at all, the officers didn’t know what they had,” he said. “Not knowing who it is, or why they ran, of course multiple cars are going to respond.”

For about five to ten minutes, students were not allowed to enter the High Street gate. Students on the scene reported seeing a young person in handcuffs, as well as police officers leading a sniff dog around the High Street gate at the same time.

Vitale said NHPD and responding YPD officers did not ask to enter dormitories, contrary to reports from student witnesses. He did confirm reports that a police dog was on campus, but he said that it was part of a normal patrol, and not brought in specifically for the incident.

The officers found the male in the vicinity of Connecticut Hall, Vitale said. When the police caught up with the student, and confirmed his Yale affiliation, almost all of the officers dispersed.

After checking on the student, Vitale said, the officers put him in an ambulance headed toward the hospital for detoxification. He said that the student was not arrested.

Up to 10 Yale Police and New Haven Police Department officers talked to students near Vanderbilt Hall around 11:35 p.m., telling them to stay in their rooms or “take a 15-minute walk” if they were trying to return to their entryways, said one student who asked not to be identified. The officers declined to comment on the situation. By 11:45 p.m., the officers had dispersed, although at least one police car remained parked on Elm Street.

Associate Vice President for Administration Janet Lindner, reached at their homes, said she had not heard anything about the incident. Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins could not be reached for comment.